Apil-kin explained

Apil-kin
Military governor of Mari King
Reign:	c.2100 BCE
Predecessor:	Ishgum-Addu
Successor:	Iddi-ilum
Dynasty:	Shakkanakku dynasty

Apil-kin (a-pil-gin6),^[1] was a ruler of the city of Mari, northern Mesopotamia, after the fall of the Akkadian Empire c. 2126-2091 BCE.^[2] He was a son of Ishgum-Addu, and ruled 35 years, according to the Shakkanakku Dynasty List.^{[3] [4]} He had two sons, who succeeded him in turn: Ili-Ishar and Tura-Dagan.^[5]

He held the title of Shakkanakku (military governor), which was borne by all the princes of a dynasty who reigned at Mari in the late third millennium and early second millennium BCE. These kings were the descendants of the military governors appointed by the kings of Akkad.^[6] He was contemporary of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and probably their vassal.^[7]

He was a contemporary of Ur-Nammu.^[8] He had a daughter named Taram-Uram, who became the First Queen of king Shulgi of Ur III.^{[9] [10]} In a dedication, she called herself "daughter-in-law of Ur-Nammu", and "daughter of Apil-kin, Lugal ("King") of Mari", suggesting for Apil-kin a position as a supreme ruler, and pointing to a marital alliance between Mari and Ur.^{[11] [12]}

On some of his inscriptions, Apil-kin uses the title dannum ("the Great") in front of his function Shakkanakku ("Military Governor"), a practice for which he is the first to be attested at Mari, and which was initially introduced by Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire.^[13] Apil-kin and his successors generally used the Akkadian style of royal inscriptions and titulature.^[14] It is considered that the Shakkanakkus gained some form of independence and came to be considered as "Kings" from the time of Apil-kin.^[15]

One of the inscriptions of Apil-kin, inscribed on a bronze plaque, reads:

The "Sahuri" built by Apil-kin is thought to be the name of a building or structure at Mari.^[16]

Notes and References

1. Loisel . Anne-Caroline Rendu . Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri . In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643 . 650 . en.
2. Book: Leick . Gwendolyn . Who's Who in the Ancient Near East . 2002 . Routledge . 978-1-134-78796-8 . 18 . en.
3. Book: Leick . Gwendolyn . Who's Who in the Ancient Near East . 2002 . Routledge . 978-1-134-78795-1 . 36 . en.
4. Book: Oliva . Juan . Textos para un historia política de Siria-Palestina I . 2008 . Ediciones AKAL . 978-84-460-1949-7 . 86 . es.
5. Book: Leick . Gwendolyn . Who's Who in the Ancient Near East . 2002 . Routledge . 978-1-134-78796-8 . 168 . en.
6. Louvre. "The Statuette of Iddi-Ilum," Department of Near Eastern Antiquities: Mesopotamia. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-iddi-ilum
7. Book: Unger . Merrill F. . Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History . 2014 . Wipf and Stock Publishers . 978-1-62564-606-4 . 5 . en.
8. Book: Abusch . I. Tzvi . Noyes . Carol . Proceedings of the XLV Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: historiography in the cuneiform world . 2001 . CDL Press . 978-1-883053-67-3 . 60 . en.
9. Book: Sharlach . T. M. . An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur . 2017 . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG . 978-1-5015-0522-5 . 207 . en.
10. Book: Eppihimer . Melissa . Exemplars of Kingship: Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians . 2019 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-090303-9 . 121 . en.
11. Book: Lipiński . Edward . Immigration and Emigration Within the Ancient Near East . 1995 . Peeters Publishers . 187 . 9789068317275 .
12. CIVIL . Michel . Un nouveau synchronisme Mari-III e dynastie d'Ur . Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale . 1962 . 56 . 4 . 213 . 23295098 . 0373-6032.
13. Loisel . Anne-Caroline Rendu . 649. Ilum-Isar et Apil-kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri . In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643 . en.
14. Book: Eppihimer . Melissa . Exemplars of Kingship: Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians . 2019 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-090303-9 . 121 . en.
15. Loisel . Anne-Caroline Rendu . Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri . 650. In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643 . en.
16. Loisel . Anne-Caroline Rendu . Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri . In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643 . 650 . en.